These Oregon destinations dominate list of best stargazing spots in the U.S.

If you want to find a spot to watch this week’s spectacular Perseid meteor shower, there’s no better place in the country than Oregon.

That’s according to a new trending research study by travel insurance comparison website InsureMyTrip, which ranked 50 U.S. destinations deemed good for “astro adventurers,” who are “travelers looking to take their dark-sky adventures to the next level,” the website said.

The list comes as the peak of the Perseid meteor shower fast approaches, set to dazzle nighttime skywatchers from Aug. 9 to 13.

Of InsureMyTrip’s top five stargazing destinations, three are in Oregon — all of which are officially designated Dark Sky Places. Those designations, which include Dark Sky Parks, Dark Sky Communities and Dark Sky Sanctuaries, are handed out by DarkSky International, an organization that says it is dedicated to protecting the nighttime environment and preserving dark skies through environmentally responsible outdoor lighting.

It’s all a part of the growing astrotourism industry, which has found a particular foothold in eastern Oregon.

To rank its “astro adventure” spots, InsureMyTrip looked at many factors, including nighttime cloud cover, air quality and location size, as well as the number of nearby observatories, campsites and properties with “outdoor space.” The study also looked at each spot’s ranking on the Bortle dark-sky scale, which measures the brightness of the night sky on a scale from 1 (the darkest places on Earth) to 9 (inner city skies).

Coming in at No. 1 on the list is Cottonwood Canyon State Park, which has been named a Dark Sky Park, and is known for its quiet high desert campground that features a small group of cabins. While the park was badly burned by wildfire earlier this year, the campground survived and swiftly reopened.

No. 3 on the list is the town of Antelope, which was named a Dark Sky Community. Located in rural Wasco County in the north central part of the state, the tiny town (population 37) has the unofficial motto: “Where you can see the Milky Way from Main Street.”

At No. 4 is the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, a national park site in southern Oregon that was also designated as a Dark Sky Park. While famous for its ancient marble cave system (which gets plenty dark), the park is also home to an old-growth forest and a campground that has great stargazing.

The top five on the list was rounded out by Watoga State Park in West Virginia, which tied for the top spot, and two towns in Texas, Jonestown and Blanco, which tied for No. 5.